Elections: the US Electoral College

Electoral College FAQ

Lessons

Trump received 62,984,828 votes to Clinton’s 65,853,514, a diference of 2,868,686 votes, in favor of Clinton.

In 2016, Trump received 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227.

If only 79,646 voters across three states had voted differently, the result would have flipped. The total EVs for Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin is 46, and Trump won them by 10,704, 46,765 and 22,177 votes. The results would’ve been Clinton 273, Trump 258.

The closest was the 2000 election, where 540 votes gave Florida’s 29 EVs to George Bush, for the win over Al Gore.

The Electoral College only exists for one day, the Monday after the second Wednesday in the December after a November presidential election, when the electors cast their votes in the capitals of the states they represents.